Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 0.7%

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price fell 0.7% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $155.66 and last traded at $156.41. 1,284,363 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 8,542,633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $157.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DZ Bank cut shares of Chevron from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.55.

Chevron Stock Down 1.1 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $155.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $289.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.12.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.26. Chevron had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $47.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 13.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 57.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $448,252.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,184.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Chevron by 104,997.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,490,824 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,395,858,000 after buying an additional 24,467,521 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,902,007,000. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 126,093,326 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,808,081,000 after buying an additional 15,845,037 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 15,457.0% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 5,378,354 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $537,835,000 after buying an additional 5,343,782 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,513,887 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,314,070,000 after buying an additional 4,700,289 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.